1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser apparatus and an optical apparatus, and more particularly, it relates to a semiconductor laser apparatus and an optical apparatus each including a base to which a plurality of semiconductor laser devices are bonded through electrodes and a photodetector.
2. Description of the Background Art
A semiconductor laser apparatus including a base to which a plurality of semiconductor laser devices are bonded through electrodes and a photodetector is known in general, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-55744, for example.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-55744 discloses a semiconductor laser apparatus including a base, a plurality of semiconductor laser devices aligned in a prescribed direction (transverse direction) on the upper surface of the base, and a photodetector arranged behind the semiconductor laser devices and monitoring intensity of laser beams. In this semiconductor laser apparatus, a plurality of electrodes are aligned in the transverse direction on the upper surface of the base, and each of the semiconductor laser devices is bonded to the upper surface of each of the electrodes. Each of the electrodes is provided with a wire-bonding portion in a region other than a region to which each of the semiconductor laser devices is bonded. In the electrode connected with the inner semiconductor laser device other than the semiconductor laser devices provided on end portions (both end portions) in the transverse direction, of the plurality of semiconductor laser devices, the wire-bonding portion protrudes in the transverse direction to a region between the adjacent semiconductor laser devices.
However, in the semiconductor laser apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-55744, the electrode connected with the inner semiconductor laser device other than the semiconductor laser devices provided on the end portions (both end portions) in the transverse direction is provided with the wire-bonding portion protruding to the region between the adjacent semiconductor laser devices, and hence a distance from one outer electrode to the other outer electrode is increased by the width of the wire-bonding portion. Therefore, the size of the semiconductor laser apparatus is disadvantageously increased due to an increase in the width of the base if electrodes each having this wire-bonding portion are repeatedly aligned in the transverse direction.